Amanda Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American astronaut, joined an all-female crew on Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission on April 14, marking a historic milestone as the first woman of Vietnamese descent to travel to space.
According to the Vietnam National Space Center (VNSC), under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 169 Vietnamese lotus seeds were also sent into space with Amanda. The launch took place at 8:30 p.m. (Hanoi time) from Van Horn, Texas, the U.S.
Amanda Nguyen was accompanied by five accomplished women: Aisha Bowe, a former aerospace engineer of Bahamian descent; Gayle King, a veteran journalist; Katy Perry, a singer and philanthropist; Kerianne Flynn, a film producer; and Lauren Sánchez, a helicopter pilot and media personality, reported the Vietnamplus news site.
Spanish groom takes HCMC’s metro to fetch his bride
A Spanish groom opted for Metro Line No. 1 instead of a wedding car to pick up his bride in a unique wedding procession through HCMC.
Tran Thi Bich Tra said her groom, Manu Menendez, 41, and a group of 15 guests took the metro from Thao Dien Station to the Opera House Station, then continued by double-decker bus to her home in Tan Binh District on April 12.
Precise timing posed the biggest challenge, as metro doors remain open for only 20 seconds. With the procession occurring on a busy Saturday, careful planning was essential. The team conducted multiple test trips to gauge the journey time from Thao Dien to the Opera House Station and finalize the route.
The wedding ceremony, held in Vietnamese, English, and Spanish, took two months to prepare. The couple was thrilled when a video of their metro procession went viral on social media. “We met, fell in love, and built our life together in Vietnam, so it was important for us to have a traditional ceremony here,” Tra told the Tuoi Tre news site.
First third-gen artificial heart implant successful in Vietnam
The 108 Military Central Hospital in Hanoi has performed Vietnam’s first successful implant of a third-generation left ventricular assist device (LVAD) on a 46-year-old woman with end-stage heart failure, according to Nguoi Lao Dong news site.
The patient from Thanh Hoa Province suffered from severe heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy, with an ejection fraction of just 19%. Despite long-term medication, her condition worsened, requiring urgent intervention.
Following consultations with local and international specialists, doctors opted for an LVAD implant, the latest generation of mechanical devices that help pump blood from the left ventricle to the aorta.
The four-hour procedure was conducted under the guidance of Professor Jan D. Schmitto, who performed the world’s first HeartMate 3 implant in 2014. Two weeks post-surgery, the patient is stable, mobile, and preparing for discharge.
Vietnam in the eyes of U.S. veterans
To celebrate his 80th birthday, Paul Hazelton, a U.S. veteran who served in the army in Vietnam when he was young, decided to visit Vietnam with his wife. While visiting the War Remnants Museum in HCMC, he told dantri.com.vn that the country had changed significantly, adding that he was glad to see the friendly relationship between the two countries.
Vietnam has become a destination of choice for quite a few American veterans several decades after the war. In 2024, the country welcomed over 17.5 million international visitors. The War Remnants Museum alone receives about 500,000 visitors a year, two-thirds of whom are foreign guests. Foreign tourists, especially U.S. veterans, also visited Independence Palace and Cu Chi Tunnels in HCMC.
Meanwhile, Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi was built in 1896 and was arguably the largest prison in Indochina at that time, covering over 12,000 square meters. Quite a few Vietnamese revolutionaries were confined at Hoa Lo Prison during the Indochina Wars, and many U.S. pilots were confined there during the Vietnam War. Since the late 1990s, a small part of Hoa Lo Prison has been protected as a museum, attracting a large number of tourists, including American veterans.
